Mahler Symphony No. 9, Part 4

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

Clarinet, Timpani, Performing, Trombone, Cello, Trumpet, Bassoon, Classicalmusic, Performing Arts, Arts, Violin, Flute, Piano, Conductor, Music, Weilerstein

4.9 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2022

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

Mahler once said this to Bruno Walter, his protege and great advocate of Mahler’s works: "What one makes music from is still the whole—that is the feeling, thinking, breathing, suffering, human being”

You could almost just stop there with the last movement of Mahler 9. This is music so full of feeling, thinking, breathing, suffering, but also of also acceptance and consolation, that words fail to describe its emotional impact. But as always with Mahler, this isn’t merely an emotional outpouring, a dumping of his innermost feelings onto the audience. It is a superbly paced, beautifully written movement, and despite its 25 minute length, and very stable and slow tempo, the movement does the seemingly impossible and feels both endless and compact at the same time.

So today, while of course we’ll talk about the emotional content of the music, I want to focus a bit more on how Mahler writes this music to make it so effective, and how he finds a way to reach the peaks of expression and the epitome of using silence as music. And finally, we'll explore how and to whom Mahler says goodbye to at the end of this symphony, as everything fades away. Join us!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes, the classical music podcast.
0:10.9	My name is Joshua Weilerstein, I'm a conductor, and I'm the music director of the Phoenix
0:14.5	Orchestra of Boston.
0:16.1	This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting
0:20.1	anybody to dive in to this amazing world of incredible music.
0:23.7	Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon sponsors Olga, Jim, David, Wendy,
0:28.7	and all of my other Patreon sponsors for making season eight possible.
0:32.6	If you'd like to support the show, please head over to patreon.com slash Sticky Notes
0:36.7	podcast.
0:38.0	And if you are a fan of the show, please just take a moment to give us a rating or review
0:40.8	on Apple Podcasts.
0:42.6	Every rating review helps more people find the show, and it is greatly appreciated.
0:47.5	So I am in Potsdam this week with the wonderful camera Academy Potsdam, we're doing a really
0:52.2	fun program, all theatrical music, Rossini's Overture to El Señor Brusquino, the Spore
0:58.6	Eighth Violin Concerto, which is in the form of a concert aria with the incredible violinist
1:03.9	ending feng.
1:04.9	And in the second half, we're doing Anna Klein's wonderful sound and fury, which is at
1:09.0	least in part, based on Haydn's 60th Symphony, Yildistratto, which is what we are finishing
1:14.5	the program with.
1:15.5	If you're not familiar with Haydn's 60, it is probably the funniest piece ever written.
1:20.4	It really takes all of the things that make Haydn so great and takes them all up ten
1:25.4	notches.
	...

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